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roop_pict0012

Tapes philipinarum, Chanthaburi market, Thailand. The patterns on these shells are very typical of molluscan shells in general. They seem to be generated by very simple rules operating similarly to a cellular automaton (ala Wolfram). Exactly how the "rules" are generated in the first place, or why they vary during growth, remain unknown.

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Uploaded on January 14, 2007
Taken on August 29, 2005